x/y Pure Proportional Representation – minus the flaws

Analysis and recounting of the City of Melbourne “C9” Council elections produces a different result.

If we remove all the distortions that arise though the segmentation, wrong calculation of the surplus transfer value and the method of calculating the quota that was introduced last century back in the times of the typewriter when computer technology was not readily available we would have a true proportionality election. If we divided the number of votes by the number of vacancies (x/y) and allocated each vote a value of one and proportioned out the value of the vote with one single transaction per candidate, no segmentation the results of the election would have been

Order Candidate Group
1 LOUEY, Kevin TEAM DOYLE
2 OKE, Cathy THE GREENS
3 ONG, Ken GARY SINGER – JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING
4 WOOD, Arron TEAM DOYLE
5 PINDER-MORTIMER, Beverley TEAM DOYLE
6 MAYNE, Stephen STEPHEN MAYNE
7 WATTS, Jackie MORGAN ELLIOTT- PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY
8 FOSTER, Richard OUR MELBOURNE
9 CHAMBERLIN, Kevin SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE

Greens candidate, Rohan Leppert would have been excluded.

The system that is currently in place is semi proportional at best and as a result of the method of calculating the surplus transfer value (based on the number of ballot papers as opposed to the value of the vote) the value of some votes increase at the a expense of others. It distorts the proportionality of the vote and does not accurately reflect the voters intentions.

The Greens received 15.62% of the primary vote which in pure proportional terms equates to 1.41 quotas.

After the distribution of preferences the Greens second candidate fails to reach quota and is excluded from the count.

If Victoria is to maintain public confidence in the electoral system the results of the election MUST be accurate and MUST reflect the intentions of the electorate. It must be proportional to the vote. Each vote must equal one value.

The flawed and outdated system of counting the vote was designed to facilitate a manual count, back in the days before calculators or computers. With the aid of computer technology and a more accurate method of counting the vote there is no justification to maintain the existing electoral systems.

If we calculated dividends or interest paid on financial transactions the way we calculate the vote our financial system would collapse over night.

Group Name ATL BTL Total % Quota % Quotas Remainder
OUR MELBOURNE 3,414 539 3,953 6.21% 0.56 0.56
STEPHEN MAYNE 3,148 680 3,828 6.01% 0.54 0.54
RESIDENTS FIRST:STOP THE RATES RIP-OFF! 1,703 226 1,929 3.03% 0.27 0.27
SHANAHAN CHAMBERLIN FOR MELBOURNE 3,242 444 3,686 5.79% 0.52 0.52
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP 561 73 634 1.00% 0.09 0.09
COMMUNITY AND BUSINESS LEADERSHIP 560 73 633 0.99% 0.09 0.09
FORWARD TOGETHER 475 53 528 0.83% 0.07 0.07
THE GREENS 8,989 953 9,942 15.62% 1.41 – 1.00 0.41
TEAM DOYLE 22,915 949 23,864 37.48% 3.37 – 3.00 0.37
MORGAN ELLIOTT- PROSPERITY FOR LIVEABILITY 5,598 516 6,114 9.60% 0.86 0.86
GARY SINGER – JOHN SO MELBOURNE LIVING 7,596 708 8,304 13.04% 1.17 – 1.00 0.17
Ungrouped 249 0.39% 0.04 0.04
Sum 58201 63664 9 5 4
Quota



7074